Monday, July 07, 2003

This story says detailed documentaries about the brutality of Saddam Hussein are being broadcast on the History Channel.

Could one of you out there record these shows on VHS or DVD for CPT Patti's soldiers please? It might go a long way to reminding them why they are where they are doing what they are doing.

We don't get the History Channel over here in Europe.

Write to me at cptpattiinbaghdad@yahoo.com or at my personal address if you have it and let me know if you will handle this. I've got no idea just yet when the broadcasts are scheduled.

History Channel Records the Brutality of a Regime

When the History Channel producers decided to run with the brutal images and terrifying stories of “The Horrors of Hussein,” “Saddam Hussein: The Butcher of Baghdad,” and “The Sons of Saddam,” all currently showing, their mission was inspired and defined: “Almost daily, new stories of oppression are revealed about the atrocities of Saddam Hussein’s regime. Yet this information is often fragmented and overlooked in a flurry of constant breaking news.”

The History Channel fulfills its mission in an eye-widening series that details the full extent of the heinous crimes committed during Saddam’s rule. Featured in “Horrors” are interviews with Abdul Rasul al-Hayder, an Iraqi who was tortured repeatedly for 6 months while imprisoned for complaining about the food in the Baghdad University Student Union. Also on screen is Hazim Oraha, who was arrested and relentlessly tortured for exhibiting art in his gallery the regime deemed threatening. His gallery, assets and home were seized.

“Horrors” also ferrets out the things that forged Saddam’s aberrant character. He was a fan of Adolf Hitler and of Joseph Stalin. He read Joseph Stalin’s works and patterned much of his regime on Stalinist Soviet Union. Every aspect of his upbringing relentlessly contributed to the makeup of a person who was and perhaps still is incapable of feeling anyone’s pain – beginning with a mother that tried to murder him while still in the womb, turning away from him forever after his dreaded birth.